Ultimate Bumblebee is currently available for pre-order, and will be released in September. I decided to preorder my copy a few days ago.

I had a chance to experiment with Bumblebee for a bit, at a toy Fair so I’ll review based on my experience. I should note from the beginning, that the picture of Bumblebee on Amazon has been mistransfromed. The chest section separates into three pieces, creating a more streamlined figure. Ultimate Bumblebee stands tall, at 14 inches in height. That’s about 2 inches taller than Leader Optimus Prime!

In car mode, the toy accurately represents the Camero. The front doors can open, but unfortunately, there is no interior design. Opening the front doors (with a lot of force) will just lead you to a huge block of plastic, instead of seats, and a steering wheel, which makes the effort quite useless.

In addition to having Transforming capabilities, the toy also has some electronic features. By a push of a button on Bumblebee’s chest, the toy can say certain cath phrases, and even play some songs (most noticeably, “Whip it” by Devo). The right arm canon can automatically raise and fire a plastic missile, the head automatically rotates, while the back wings flap by themselves. Bumblebee also reacts to certain environmental noises, such as hand clapping. Yeap, this is a fully automated toy.

As a person who has been collecting Transformers for years, I can honestly say that I’m not sure how to categorize toy. It seems more of an electronic toy than a Transformer.

But, while I’m not a big fan for electronics, I would say that in addition to Bumblebee’s car mode, his robot mode is extremely well done (minus the face plate, and lack of a hand on the gun arm). In fact, I believe that the robot mode in Ultimate Bumblebee is more accurate and detailed than the deluxe action figures. That said, if you can afford this version of Bumblebee, definitely make sure to get it.

The toy stands great as a collector’s item. Here is the breakthrough of my review:

Design: 4.5/5
EXTREMELY well detailed car and robot mode. The best that I’ve seen in the current Transformer line. But, having a face plate, and hand on the gun arm, would have made this toy almost perfect.

Possibility: 4/5
Arms can move somewhat, but the electronic mechanism in the shoulder joints, hinders much of the rotation about the ball-sockets.

Electronics: 4.5/5
Cool, yet somewhat annoying after a while. I might take the batteries out after getting this toy.

Overall Score (not an average): 4.5/5
If you don’t like electronics – get past that. This is a pretty sweet transformer. Highly detailed. Collectors and fans of the movie will appreciate this toy.